Felipe Massa’s Ferrari career has come to a somewhat frustrating end in Brazil today after a drive-through penalty ended his hopes of finishing his final race for the Scuderia on the podium.

Massa made a good start from ninth place on the grid to lie in sixth after the first lap, but he found himself in fourth place after passing Nico Rosberg on track and Lewis Hamilton during the first round of pit stops. However, with Hamilton staying in close company, Massa was found to have cut across the pit entry line despite the FIA warning drivers about doing so earlier this week. It was a rather menial penalty, but given that the FIA had made clear that it was not permitted, a drive-through penalty was the only action that could be taken. Massa was less than impressed, calling it “unacceptable” and “unbelievable” over the radio.

Despite this setback, Massa recovered to finish the race in seventh place for Ferrari when Lewis Hamilton was also handed a drive-through penalty following a run-in with Valtteri Bottas.

However, Massa would have been set to clinch a podium finish after Fernando Alonso revealed after the race that he would have let his teammate past in order to claim one final top three result for the Scuderia.

“It was the last race for Felipe at Ferrari and we wanted to help in whatever way to try to celebrate a podium finish with Felipe, but he got a drive through,” Alonso explained to journalists in Brazil after the race.

Nevertheless, Massa has enjoyed the heyday of his career with the Italian marque, and he will now be hoping to enjoy some success with Williams when he moves to the British team in 2014.